The Covenant

Four sisters in Lancaster County witness the secrets of their tiny home community as Leah suffers from her sister Sadie's shameful loss of innocence with an English boy and finds her own dreams of love with Jonas spinning out of control.

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This is definitely not my usual cup of tea, but I've been trying new genres lately. I'm not usually into the historical romance, or the Christian romance, type books. Or any kind of romance, to be honest. When it comes to romance and relationships, I'm pretty much your standard stick-in-the-mud, grumpy-old-man kind of guy. But for what this is, it's pretty good. I'm not saying this book caused me to reevaluate my anti-romance stance, but it was a fairly pleasant read.
Things I enjoyed: the glimpse into Amish culture, especially post-WWII Amish culture. The little bits of Old-style Pennsylvania Dutch language. Aunt Lizzie. The way the book changes point of view between characters, but makes it clear which character you're reading about. The way that the Amish characters recognized that their religious way-of-life was not for everyone - while they kept themselves separate from the "English", they didn't judge them for following a different path. In fact, that's another thing I liked about the book in general - it has a religious theme (and is published by a Christian publishing company, Bethany House), but it's not preachy.
Things I didn't enjoy: the bits told from the doctor's (Derry's father's) point of view. These felt like they were written by a completely different person. The dialog in these sections was stilted and stiff. The fact that several plot lines are left unresolved. I should have thought of the fact that this is the first book in a series of books about the same family. Hopefully the following books cover what happens with Leah and her beau, and answer what happened with Lizzie, Ida and Abram in the past. I might be tempted to read another of these books just to find out!

I've been fascinated with the Amish for some time. I like reading historical fiction to try to understand everyday life long ago. The Amish bring times past into the modern day world. I'm so interested in how their culture functions and how they have managed to keep to their old traditions. I enjoy reading about a group of people who enjoy cooking, canning, and making useful and functional “art” like the many quilts and rugs etc that are made working together and how the community pulls together in raising a whole barn in a weekend! This is an excellent story that helps to explain some of Amish life and traditions the good with the bad.

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Summary

Abram Ebersol and wife, Ida, and their four daughters; Sadie, Leah, Hannah and Mary Ruth, are living in a cloistered Amish Lancaster County community. Trouble brews when teenage Sadie and Leah begin summer courting.